Double bass?

[kevin_lindsay]

I was discussing my double bass 'bash it up' woes with some of the folks at my work. Someone asked 'why is it called a DOUBLE bass?'.

I was stumped for an answer. Can anyone enlighten me as to why it's called this?

[Bilbo]

Because it doubles the cellos in an orchestra an octave down.

[kevin_lindsay]

Ah, I see!

My workmates were coming up with gens such as "is there a SINGLE bass then?"

[keeponehandloose]

Because its twice as much fun.

[Cat Burrito]

and you have twice the chances of doing yourself a mischief lugging it around!

[fatback]

And everything costs twice as much...

Er no. Make that four times as much.

Edited March 1, 2011 by fatback

[Blademan_98]

[quote name='Bilbo' post='1146226' date='Mar 1 2011, 06:48 PM']Because it doubles the cellos in an orchestra an octave down.[/quote]

Does that mean an electric bass is more akin to a cello?

(Serious question)

Cheers.

[BassBus]

Double the chance of [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=103314"]pulling[/url].

[Shonks]

[quote name='Blademan_98' post='1146352' date='Mar 1 2011, 08:21 PM']Does that mean an electric bass is more akin to a cello?

(Serious question)

Cheers.[/quote]
nope!!

[jakenewmanbass]

I like to refer to it as Bass x 2

[Mr Bassman]

You wouldn't call it a "Treble Bass"!

[stewartmusic]

[quote name='Bilbo' post='1146226' date='Mar 1 2011, 06:48 PM']Because it doubles the cellos in an orchestra an octave down.[/quote]

But this is not always the case, if you mean doubling the celli as playing the same notes as them. Although in some earlier music in baroque or classical times when the bass would play the continuo it would most certainly double the celli but for more modern composers such as Mahler and Stravinsky the double bass was most certainly playing its own part.

I have always seen it as called double bass because it plays an octave lower than actually written. Theoretically beside every double bass part there should be a small 8 underneath the bass clef to indicate this but i guess it is just became common practice to leave it out as it really probably just confused people...

That is just the way I have taken to understanding it.

Dara

[TheRev]

I thought it was because the scale length is double that of a 'cello.

[27 frets]

Hi

According to Wikipedia, citing: A Brief History of the Double Bass, Lawrence Hurst, Professor of Double Bass, School of Music, Indiana University

"The names contrabass and double bass refer the instrument's range and use in the contra octave below the cello, also called the 16' octave relative to the church organ."

That was my understanding too - it's all about the pitch/range.

The same applies with wind instruments, with the contrabasson/double bassoon sounding octave lower than a bassoon, due to double length of tube (though it's curled up)

[Bilbo]

[quote name='stewartmusic' post='1146743' date='Mar 2 2011, 08:43 AM']But this is not always the case, if you mean doubling the celli as playing the same notes as them. Although [b]in some earlier music in baroque or classical times when the bass would play the continuo it would most certainly double the celli [/b]but for more modern composers such as Mahler and Stravinsky the double bass was most certainly playing its own part.[/quote]

I know it is not the case in later music but early on, when it was christened the double bass, it did

[fonzoooroo]

[quote name='Blademan_98' post='1146352' date='Mar 1 2011, 08:21 PM']Does that mean an electric bass is more akin to a cello?

(Serious question)

Cheers.[/quote]
They're same pitch as double bass. Bottom string on a cello is C wchih is C on the A string of a bass. (double bass or bass guitar)

[Bilbo]

[quote name='fonzoooroo' post='1161502' date='Mar 14 2011, 10:35 AM']They're same pitch as double bass. Bottom string on a cello is C wchih is C on the A string of a bass. (double bass or bass guitar)[/quote]

And you can get an extension thingy for a double bass that takes it down to C an octave lower.

[url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File%3a%44ouble_bass_C_extension.jpg"]C Extension - picture[/url]

[fonzoooroo]

[quote name='Bilbo' post='1161509' date='Mar 14 2011, 10:44 AM']And you can get an extension thingy for a double bass that takes it down to C and octave lower.

[url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File%3a%44ouble_bass_C_extension.jpg"]C Extension - picture[/url][/quote]
indeed you can.

I think we've all skirted round the big fact here...

The cello is a member of the violin family. (period in history, shape of upper bouts and tuning in 5ths)

The double bass is effectively still a viol which stayed in use in a standardised (much more recently) version of its original form. (presumably due to ease of playing - imagine the stretch required in the left hand if it were tuned in 5ths!)
A bass viol is cello sized, (give or take) - certainly cello pitch. Hence double bass sounds an octave lower than a bass viol.

To get an octave lower than that just gets silly...

[url="http://wn.com/octobass"]http://wn.com/octobass[/url]